Hydroshoring

ABSTRACT

A cargo aircraft pallet having a bottom pressure plate, a sealed compartment filled with hydraulic oil and encompassing the bottom plate, and a cargo-supporting platform floating on top, and thereby supported by the hydraulic oil. The floating platform is movable, under a cargo load, relative to the bottom plate to thereby form a pressure that is evenly transmitted throughout the hydraulic oil over the relatively wide area of the bottom plate to thereby substantially reduce the force applied to the floor of the aircraft.

0 United States Patent 13,591,122

[72] inventor Stephen R. Mehaflie 2,908,472 10/1959 McDonald 248/3463876 Herford Trail, Dayton, Ohio 45449 3,195,890 7/1965 Sails 248/350 X[21] Appl. No. 862,693 3,343,775 9/1967 Stephenson 248/400 [22] FiledOct. 1,1969 3,351,027 11/1967 Ellard 108/51 [45] Patemed July 1971Primary Examiner-Chancellor E. Harris [54] HYDROSHORING 92/250, 98 RD I[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,846,983 8/1958 Otto267/122 Attorneys-Harry A. Herbert, Jr. and Arthur R. Parker wide areaof the bottom plate to thereby substantially reduce the force applied tothe floor of the aircraft.

PATENIEU JUL 6 m V I3, 591, 122

SHEET 3 UF 4 6'; or r I-IYDROSHORING BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Thisinvention relates generally to the field of technology of cargo aircraftpallets.

In previous cargo pallets,'wood shoring is used to support the cargo andto protect the sides and floor of the aircraft. However, such woodshoring is relatively heavy and, in addition, certain loads are tooheavy to be carried by the aircraft since the floor loading criteriathereof would be violated. The latter problem is solved or, at least,substantially alleviated by the unique hydroshoring system of thepresent invention, as will be hereinafter further described in thefollowing summary and detailed description thereof.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The hydroshoring system of the presentinvention consists briefly in a novel thin, metal pad that includes amain supporting, bottom pressure plate; a floating floor; and a sealed,contained compartment or chamber filled with hydraulic fluid supportedon the bottom .plate and, in turn, supporting the floating floor." Thus,any load placed on the floating floor creates a fluid pressure withinthe hydraulic fluid contained in the sealed compartment or chamber,which pressure is uniformly distributed throughout and acts with aunique, lowered force over the entire area of the bottom pressure plateto thereby permit the air transport of much greater cargo loads than waspreviously possiblewith the normally used wood shoring methods. Thefloating floor'is made in the form of a structural-type member. whichprovides greater supporting strength to unusually dense loads to becarried thereby.

Other advantages, as well as objects of the invention, will becomereadily apparent from the following disclosure and accompanyingdrawings, in which:

, ares DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I 're'presentsa'somewhatschematic plan view of the improved, hydroshoring system of presentinvention, illustrating"' the botto'm pressure plate thereof asoverlapping somewhatthe unique floating floor member of the invention,and further being integrally formed with both side and end railportions;-

FIG. 2 is across-sectional view, partly broken away, taken about on line2-2 of FIG. 1, generally showing more details of the partiallyoverlapping relation'between the bottom and top, floating platformplates representing the inventive hydroshoring systemand',in"particular, illustrating details of a clamp sealme'chanism'utilized in a relatively light-duty form of the inven- I FIG.3 is a second, cross-sectional view, partly broken away, of a;modified,heavy-duty type of the inventive hydroshoring syste FIG. 2} v is athird, cross-sectional'view, partly broken away, of th'e""hea vy-dutytype of hydroshoringof FIG. 3 shown further modified with an adhesiveseal instead of the clamp seal of FIGS 1 and 2;

FIG. 5 is still another partly broken away and cross-sectional view,somewhat similar to that of FIG. 2, but showing the inventivehydroshoring system incorporated in one type of aircraft cargo pallet;

FIG. 6 is a further cross-sectional view, partly broken away, of amodified form of the inventive hydroshoring system applied to anothertype of cargo pallet.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawing and,inparticular, to FIGS. 1 and 2 thereof, the improved, hydroshoringsystem of the present invention is indicated generally at 10 asconsisting basically of a rectangular-shaped pad or platformlikearrangement including a floating structural floor'at 11, a sealed,contained, fluid compartment or chamber at 12 (FIG. 2), and a bottompressure plate 13. A filler opening for filling compartment 12 withhydraulic oil is depicted at 14in FIG. I. a

The aforementioned floating floor 11 is made into astructural-typemember in order'to prevent local yielding under load, puncture of thesealed compartment or chamber, and/or any deflection thereof as aresultof contact occurring between the said floor I1 and thebottom'pressure plate/13. For this purpose, floor 11 is specificallyfabricated, as is particularly seen in FIG. 2, to include both an upperfloor plate portion at 11a, and a lower floor plate portion at 11b heldin spaced relation therefrom by means of a plurality of spaced-apart,supporting ribs, indicated at as being interconnected therebetween.These ribs 110, which, as is schematically indicated by the dotted linesin FIG. I, extend across the entire width of the inventive hydroshoringsystem, may be integrally formed at the upper ends thereof with theupper floor plate portion lla. At their lower ends, the aforesaidinterconnecting ribs 110 may be tack-welded to the lower floor plateportion Ilb, as isindicated, for example, at the reference numeral 11d.As seen in the aforesaid FIG. 2, upper floor plate portion,

Ila is relatively thicker than lower plate portion 11b in order tothereby'provide an upper or top floor surface that is made rugged enoughto withstand the wear and tear of relatively heavy and/or dense cargoloads.

The foregoing hydroshoring-structural floating floor ll rests on, and istotally supported by the hydraulic oil filled in the aforementionedcompartment or chamber 12. Since the floating floor 11 has no otherstructural support, any forces applied normal to the top surfacethereof, as by means of a cargo load being emplaced thereon, istransformed into pressure in the said hydraulic oil in compartment orchamber 12. Therefore, with the above-described arrangement, theinventive hydroshoring system 10 acts as a relatively enlarged hydrauliccylinder, and any relatively heavy and/or dense load, for example,placed on top of the floating structural floor llautomatically forms apressure within the said hydraulic oil, as indicated hereinbefore, whichpressure is evenly distributed throughout the said compartment orchamber ll. Thus, any force of a relatively concentrated cargo loadbecomes operative, by way of the hydraulic oil in the compartment orchamber 11, over the entire, exposed and relatively.

wide area of the bottom pressure plate 13. This application of theinitially relatively large force occurring at the point of the placementof a relatively dense cargo load on the floating floor 11, and itssubsequent formation of an evenly distributed pressure in the hydraulicoil, results in a considerably reduced force being applied across thesurface of the bottom pressure plate 13 and to the floor of the aircraftin which it is to be used. In this novel and simplified manner, aconsiderably larger and denser cargo of substantially increased weightmay be loaded onto the floating floor 11 without the floorload limitsfor the particular aircraft having been exceeded.

The previously described compartment or chamber 12 may be sealed as bymeans of a clamp-seal means indicated generally at 15 in FIG. 2. Saidclamp-seal means may include a seal member as, at 15a, and a pair ofclamp members at 16a and I6b for clamping opposite side portions of saidseal member 15a in respective sealing contact between the aforementionedfloating floor 11 and the bottom pressure plate 13, as is clearlyillustrated in the aforesaid FIG. 2. Clamp members 16a, 16b may, inturn, be retained or locked in their seal memberclamping position bymeans of appropriate fasteners, such as is indicated at 17. The lattermay represent rivets, locking bolts and nuts, or other means;

The seal member 15a may consist of a one-piece rubber compound, or someother suitable compound such as neoprene. In either event, the aforesaidsealing member 15a, as well as other sealing means to be hereinafterdescribed in connection with modified forms of the invention, may bedesigned for a working pressure of IO p.s.i.g.,' and to offer. a minimumresistance only to compressive forces. Ideally, said seal member shouldoffer no resistance to the movement of the floating floor 11 when thelatter is supporting a load.

Moreover, it should also preferably incorporate a tensile strengthadequate only to resist the weight of the floating floor, as at II inFIG. 2, plus the weight of the hydraulic oil in the pressure compartmentor chamber 12, which condition would occur only when the inventivehydroshoring system would be in the inverted position.

In the illustration of FIGS. 1 and 2, which represents a lightduty formof the invention, the bottom pressure plate 13 may consist of a stampedpan configuration having upright or vertical side portions, indicated atl3a'in FIG. 2, which extend around all four sides of the hydroshoringsystem 10. As seen clearly in the aforesaid FIG. 2, vertical sideportions l3a-are made to overlap, but not extend beyond the floatingfloor 11. With such an overlapping relation, lateral movement of saidfloating floor 11 is prevented. In this regard, the design of the saidbottom pressure plate 13 is such that a predetermined amount of flexureis built into the seal member 150, which action is imperative to theoperation of the inventive hydroshoring device. Thus, after flexing onlya relatively small amount, the seal member 15a will contact the verticalside portions 130 of the bottom pressure plate 13 and further flexingthereof will cease. This small seal flexure which, in effect, provides asmall damping volume uniquely built into the inventive hydroshoringsystem 10, assures the free flotation of the floating floor 11 whileunder load conditions. In addition, it allows or compensates for airbubbles and other compressible voids which may have developed in thefluid space of the pressurecompartment or chamber ll. Finally, any cargoload placed on the floating floor II will still be able to fully flexthe seal member 15a into the damping volume provided between it andvertical side portions 13a without actually contacting the bottomsurface of the pressure plate 13.

In FIG. 3, a heavy-duty form of the inventive e hydroshoring system isindicated generally at I8 as including a bottom pressure plate at 19,which is identical to that previously described at the reference numeral13 for the light-duty inventive form of FIG. 2. Again, said bottompressure plate 19 may be formed, as by stamping, into a panconfiguration having upright or verticalside portions, as seen at 19a,which side portions 19a extend to an overlapping relation with thefloating floor member indicated generally at 20. The latter element mayconsist of an extruded member that may be substituted for the previouslydescribed floating structural floor ll of the form of the presentinvention disclosed in FIG. 2. The extruded floating floor member 20 isused for heavier cargo loads and is likewise constructed as a structuralmember which includes cross bracing, as is illustrated at 21, forexample. Again, clamp-seal means, similar to that disclosed at 15 inFIG. 2, is utilized at 22 to seal a hydraulic oil-filled compartment orchamber 23. The latter is likewise used to support the bottom surface200 of said floor member 20 in freely floating relation thereon. Thus,as in the inventive form of FIG. 2, a cargo load placed on the topsurface of the floating floor member 20 will create a pressure in thehydraulic oil contained within the compartment or chamber 23. Thispressure is thereby evenly distributed throughout said chamber to actacross the entire surface of the bottom pressure plate 19 with a forcesignificantly reduced over that originally applied to the top surface ofthe member 20. The aforementioned clamp-seal means 22 includes the sealmember 220, which is clamped in sealing contact to appropriate portionsof both floating floor member 20 and bottom pressure plate I9 by meansof a pair of clamps at 24. The latter are, in turn, retained in theirclamping position by means of suitable fasteners represented at thereference numerals24'a.

FIG. 4 of the drawing illustrates a hydroshoring system at 25 whichincludes a bottom pressure plate at 26, and a floating floor member 27',again, consisting of an extruded member equipped with cross bracing at28 and thereby of similar construction to the previously noted bottompressure plate I9 and floating floor member 20 of FIG. 3. Althoughsimilarily constructed for heavy-duty operation, as in the inventiveform of the aforementioned FIG. 3, hydroshoring system 25 is furthermodified to incorporate an adhesive seal means 29 in place of theclamp-seal means 15 or 22 of FIGS. 2 and 3, respectively. Thus, in theform of the invention disclosed insaid FIG. 4, adhesive seal means 29 isutilized to seal the hydraulic oil-filled compartment or chamber 31 in amuch more simplified manner than that previously described in FIGS. 2and 3. To accommodate the installation of said seal means 29 thereto,both floating floor member 27 and bottom pressure plate 26 have beensomewhat modified. Thus, said floating floor member 27 may bespecifically designed with a circumferentially disposed, outwardlyprojecting edge surface at 30, which is made contiguous with the bottomsurface portion 270 of the member 27. One surface of the adhesive sealmeans 29 may then be sealed to said bottom surface portion 27asubstantially adjacent to said outwardly projecting edge surface 30.Bottom pressure plate 26 is also modified to incorporate vertical orupright edge portions, one of which is indicated at 26a, which isdesigned to overlap the outwardly projecting edge surface 30 of floatingfloormember 27. The latter terminates in a reversed end portion at 26bwhich overhangs the aforementioned outwardly projecting portion 30, asis clearly seen in the aforesaid FIG. 4. Once again, with this uniquearrangement both lateral movement of the floating floor member 27 isprevented and the relatively small damping volume, previously describedin connection with FIGS. 2 and 3, for the limited flexure of theadhesive seal means 28is provided for.

With specific reference to FIG. 5, another form of the hydroshoringsystem of the invention is shown generally at 32 as being applied to, orincorporated with, another type of cargo pallet. In this case, thesystem 32 again includes a floating floor member at 33, which isidentical to that indicated at 11 in FIG. 2. Said member 33 isillustrated as including an upper plate portion 33a, a lower plateportion 33b, and a plurality of supporting rib portions at 330, showninterconnected therebetween. The latter may be integrally formed, asbefore, at their upper ends with the upper plate portion 33a, and attheir lower ends they may be tack-welded, as shown, for example, at33:1, to the upper surface of the cargo pallet portion 36. The lattermember 36 is substituted, in this form of the invention, for the bottompressure plate 13 of FIG. 2, or 19 of FIG. 3. Again, a hydraulicoil-filled compartment or chamber 37 is formed between said floatingfloor member-lower plate 33b and said cargo pallet portion 36, and issealed by means of the clamp-seal means at 34. The clamp-seal means 34consists, as in the case of FIGS. 2 and 3, of the seal means 34a, and aplurality of clamps at 34a fastened in position by suitable fasteningmeans at 340. To complete the cargo pallet, an upright, vertical railportion, depicted at 35, is integrally formed with the said cargo palletportion 36. As seen in the aforesaid FIG. 5, rail portion 35 overlapsfloating floor member 33 and, as

' such, performs the same function as in the case of the verticalindicated generally at 38 as including an upper, floating floor platemember 38a, a bottom pressure plate 38b, and, as in the other describedforms of the invention, a compartment or chamber at 39 that may befilled with hydraulic oil. Again, compartment or chamber 39 may besealed, as by means of a rubber or neoprene one-piece sealing meansindicated at 40. Opposite end portions of said sealing means 40 may beattached in sealing relation to said upper plate member 380 and saidbottom pressure plate 38b, as shown, by the clamping means at 41, whichmay be held in position by any suitable fastener. means, as isrepresented by the reference numerals at 42. An upright, verticallyoriented, rail'member, indicated at 43, may be attached to, orintegrallyformed with, said bottom pressure plate 38b to complete one type-ofcargo pallet to which the present invention may be easily applied.

other, as is illustrated at the reference numerals 44' and 45,

respectively As may be clearly seen in the aforesaid FIG. 6, theplurality of reinforcing members 44, which are disposed across the widthand along the inside surface of said upper floating floor plate member380, are made with a shorter length than that of the previously notedplurality of reinforcing members 45, which arelikewise disposedacrossthe width of bottom pressure plate 38b. With this uniquearrangement,

and further because of the alternate disposition therebetween, any forceresulting from a relatively dense cargo load placed on top of saidfloating plate member 3811 will, as explained hereinbefore, form apressure in the hydraulic oil of said compartment or chamber 39, whichpressure will be evenly distributed throughout and thereby result in aconsiderably reduced force being applied across the bottom pressureplate 38a and to the floor of theaircraft in which mounted. Once again,the sealing means 40 is permitted to deflect a certain amount into alimited damping volume, and the relatively longer reinforcing members 45integrally disposed along bottom pressure plate 38b will limit anyfurther relative movement of said floating floor plate member 3811. Ofcourse, as has been previously indicated, the spaced-apart members 44and 45, respectively, provide additional reinforcement to both floatingplate member 38a and bottom pressure plate 38b. In this connection, thebottom pressure plate 38b may be still further reinforced by means of aplurality of, preferably, l-

inch blocks 46 which may be alternately arranged, as shown,

with the aforementioned upright reinforcing members 45 and disposedevery running 6 inches across said bottom plate.

lclaim:

1. In an aircraft cargo pallet; hydroshoring means for supporting anddistributing the force of relatively heavy/dense cargo loads over arelatively wide area and thereby substantially reducing the forceapplied to the aircraft floor, said means comprising; a bottom, mainbase support member adapted for positioning in supporting relation onthe aircraft floor; hydraulically activated, pressure-transmitting meansfllled with hydraulic fluid, and encompassing and supported by saidbottom, main base support member; and an upper,

cargo-supporting platform member resting on the top surface of, andentirely supported in freely floating relation on, the hydraulic fluidcontained within said hydraulically activated, pressure-transmittingmeans to thereby form an evenly distributed pressure resulting from acargo load emplaced on said upper floating platform member that isapplied across the entire surface area of said base, support member witha significantly lowered force; said hydroshoring means including sealingmeans comprising a resilient seal adapted for application to both ofsaid bottom, base and upper, cargo-supporting platform members; andmeans for clamping said resilient seal in its sealing position tothereby close and seal said hydraulic fluid Within said hydraulicallyactivated, pressure-transmitting means; said resilient seal comprising aone-piece compound of rubber, neoprene and the like having minimumstress in compression to thereby offer substantially no additionalresistance to the inherent resistance in the application of saidhydraulic fluid to a cargo load positioned on said upper,cargo-supporting platform member. I

2. In an aircraft cargo pallet as in claim 1, wherein said bot- 'tombase support member includes upright side portions extending inoutwardly and overlapping relation to, and thereby preventing lateralmovement of, said upper, cargo-supporting platform member; and saidresilient seal is clamped with a closed end portion thereof in slightlyspaced relation to the said upright side portions of said bottom basesupport member to thereby provide for a minimum flexure of said sealduring the application of a load to said upper, freely floating platformmember. Y 1 I 3. In an arrcraft cargo pallet as In clarm l, wherern'sard resilient seal further consists of an open-ended adhesive materialadhered to both of said bottom and upper, floating platform members witha closed end portion thereof disposed in relatively small, spaced-apartrelation to upright side portions formed on said bottom base supportmember to thereby provide for the limited flexure of said seal into arelatively small damping volume provided thereby between said seal andsaid bottom, base support member-upright side portions and thuspreventing contact between said upper and bottom members.

4. In an aircraft cargo pallet as in claim 1, wherein said uppercargo-supporting platform member comprises a lower plate element indirect contact with, and immediately supported in freely floatingrelation on said hydraulic fluid; and an upper, extrusion elementsupported to, and further upwardly of, said lower plate element fordirectly supporting a relatively heavy/dense cargo load thereon.

5. In an aircraft cargo pallet as in claim 1, wherein said hydraulicallyactivated, pressure-transmitting means comprises; a sealed chamberpositioned over, and encompassing the base member and further beingfilled with the said hydraulic fluid; said bottom, base support memberincorporating a plurality of relatively elongated spaced-apartreinforcing members extending vertically upward from the surface towardssaid upper, floating platform member, and said upper member similarlyincorporating a plurality of relatively short, reinforcing membersextending vertically downward towards, and arranged in alternatelyspaced relation to, said base support member to thereby simultaneouslyprovide reinforcement to both of said members and to prevent said upper,cargo-supporting floating platform member from direct engagement withsaid bottom, base support member when placed under a load.

1. In an aircraft cargo pallet; hydroshoring means for supporting anddistributing the force of relatively heavy/dense cargo loads over arelatively wide area and thereby substantially reducing the forceapplied to the aircraft floor, said means comprising; a bottom, mainbase support member adapted for positioning in supporting relation onthe aircraft floor; hydraulically activated, pressure-transmitting meansfilled with hydraulic fluid, and encompassing and supported by saidbottom, main base support member; and an upper, cargo-supportingplatform member resting on the top surface of, and entirely supported infreely floating relation on, the hydraulic fluid contained within saidhydraulically activated, pressure-transmitting means to thereby form anevenly distributed pressure resulting from a cargo load emplaced on saidupper floating platform member that is applied across the entire surfacearea of said base, support member with a significantly lowered force;said hydroshoring means including sealing means comprising a resilientseal adapted for application to both of said bottom, base and upper,cargosupporting platform members; and means for clamping said resilientseal in its sealing position to thereby close and seal said hydraulicfluid within said hydraulically activated, pressure-transmitting means;said resilient seal comprising a one-piece compound of rubber, neopreneand the like having minimum stress in compression to thereby offersubstantially no additional resistance to the inherent resistance in theapplication of said hydraulic fluid to a cargo load positioned on saidupper, cargo-supporting platform member.
 2. In an aircraft cargo palletas in claim 1, wherein said bottom base support member includes uprightside portions extending in outwardly and overlapping relation to, andthereby preventing lateral movement of, said upper, cargo-supportingplatform member; and said resilient seal is clamped with a closed endportion thereof in slightly spaced relation to the said upright sideportions of said bottom base support member to thereby provide for aminimum flexure of said seal during the application of a load to saidupper, freely floating platform member.
 3. In an aircraft cargo palletas in claim 1, wherein said resilient seal further consists of anopen-ended adhesive material adhered to both of said bottom and upper,floating platform members with a closed end portion thereof disposed inrelatively small, spaced-apart relation to upright side portions formedon said bottom base support member to thereby provide for the limitedflexure of said seal into a relatively small damping volume providedthereby between said seal and said bottom, base support member-uprightside portions and thus preventing contact between said upper and bottommembers.
 4. In an aircraft cargo pallet as in claim 1, wherein saidupper cargo-supporting platform member comprises a lower plate elementin direct contact with, and immediately supported in freely floatingrelation on said hydraulic fluid; and an upper, extrusion elementsupported to, and further upwardly of, said lower plate element fordirectly supporting a relatively heavy/dense cargo load thereon.
 5. Inan aircraft cargo pallet as in claim 1, wherein said hydraulicallyactivated, pressure-transmitting means comprises; a sealed chamberpositioned over, and encompassing the base member and further beingfilled with the said hydraulic fluid; said bottom, base support memberincorporating a plurality of relatively elongated spaced-apartreinforcing members extending vertically upward from the surface towardssaid upper, floating platform member, and said upper member similarlyincorporating a plurality of relatively short, reinforcing membersextending vertically downward towards, and arranged in alternatelyspaced relation to, said base support member to thereby simultaneouslyprovide reinforcement to both of said members and to prevent said upper,cargo-supporting floating platform member from direct engagement withsaid bottom, base support member when placed under a load.